


Within night's heart the lamp of love

by tungstenpincenez



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Mythology References, Relationship Study
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:07:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27240199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tungstenpincenez/pseuds/tungstenpincenez
Summary: A weary creature of the night crosses the threshold.
Relationships: Loki/Thor, Loki/Thor (Marvel)
Kudos: 24





	Within night's heart the lamp of love

The leather-clad figure stalked the night. Alone. Alone and unafraid.

Despite the cries, the screams, the piercing barks and rumbling growls of the animals, the explosions resounding in his wake. He grinned. The louder and closer the noise, the wider the smile. 

It was satisfaction. Satisfaction in a job well done.

They’d given him many names through the years. Fear. Anger. Loathing. Despair. Vengeance. Abuse. Bully. _Demon._ But his favourite, the one that he felt best described him, was from the Greeks: Kháos. 

For he had been there in the beginning, when the Earth was young and newly formed. He had escaped to this newly birthed planet and had rejoiced, had _revelled_ in the bubbling, smoking lava, breathed the noxious fumes and bathed in the molten rock.

But as was his luck, he could not enjoy himself for long because one day, the storms came. They had fought and struggled, their dance of old. At the last, he was subdued. The unrelenting rains pelted and pummeled until they had tamed the fierce fires, cooling and smothering the wildness until it was contained within a hardened shell. 

He had sighed in submission. _He had been found once again._

Perhaps age had sharpened his cunning. Or perhaps his long absence had redefined their bond. For he was not entrapped nor muzzled. Not completely. No, this time, he was allowed to roam, to exercise his talents, so long as he did not cause unmitigated devastation or destruction. And for the first time, he accepted these limits. Perhaps he was grown weary (and no, “mellowing with age” he absolutely would _not_ consider within a galaxy’s radius). 

He yawned as he entered the house and divested himself of his coat. The dawn would soon break, and he was tired. 

A cup of coffee awaited him, as did a warm embrace.

He looked into the sky-blue eyes and gave a wan smile. He accepted the kiss and permitted his exhausted body to be manoeuvred to the couch and cuddled. 

“Why do you allow the humans to tax your strength so?”

He nuzzled the broad shoulder. “They do not know the depth of the darkness in their hearts. I merely awaken their potential. But some are greedy and would drink me dry if I were weaker.” He raised his head and pressed a kiss. “And if I did not have a means of restoring my powers.”

His partner sighed. “Loki, I do not want to one day find you collapsed upon the doorstep.”

“You will not. The night is not nearly long enough nor these humans robust enough to subjugate me. Even the Void could not break me. There has been only one who could tame me. And only because I desired it.” 

His smile was returned by one that had his heart aflutter. It was this broad, radiant smile that had caught his attention so long ago, before Time had even found legs.

His eyes refused to leave the beloved face even as he sipped his drink and sighed contently. “Why does your coffee always taste better than what the humans brew?”

“Because it is made with love, my loveliest.” He batted his eyes.

Loki choked. “Thor, you utter lout!”

Thor laughed and pressed a kiss against his temple. “Now, what sort of mischief have you wrought that I must undo?”

Loki’s emerald eyes sparkled with glee. “Watch the news before you depart.”

Thor sighed and pressed another kiss. They remained thus until Loki let out a series of yawns. Thor stood, cradling his beloved. “Come, we will get you a-bed. I must soon begin my day’s task.”

As he tucked his sleepy love beneath the covers, Thor murmured, “I shall return in time for our meal together.”

Loki chuckled. “Ever the optimist.”

When he had ensured his beloved had succumbed to sleep, Thor shook his head and headed toward the front door. The morning rush hour was in full throttle as he donned his long white coat, the stethoscope bulging from one of the pockets. 

As he merged with the crowd on the street, he touched his pendant and smiled. He had chanced upon it while doing his rounds to heal the hurts of the world in a dingy shop that catered to tourists. He was told it was the Chinese _taichi_ symbol of polar opposites that were ever entwined, with each containing a bit of the other at its core. Just as he held Loki in his heart and Loki held him in his. 

Thor grinned up at the bright sun and kept walking.

**Author's Note:**

> title adapted from Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “The Two Spirits: An Allegory”


End file.
